FRIENDLY ISLANDS AIRWAYS

Is renamed Friendly Islands Airways, Ltd. Interisland services linking Tongaputu, Vav’u, Ha’apia, and ‘Eua are maintained. Within four years, General Manager Robert Main’s fleet comprises 1 Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander and 1 CASA C-212 Aviocar.

Paul Karalus becomes general manager in 1989 and the fleet is upgraded by the addition of a de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter. A second Canadian-made turboprop is acquired in 1990. In May 1991 , the carrier becomes Royal Tongan Airlines, Ltd.

FRIENDSHIP AIR ALASKA: United States (1986-1990). Galena, Alaska-based Harold’s Air Service is renamed in October 1986. Regional scheduled passenger and cargo services are maintained by President Robert Schafer’s company to McGrath, Aniak, Fairbanks, and 60 other west and central Alaskan destinations.

The fleet in 1987 comprises 3 Piper PA-31-310 Navajos, 2 Cessna 208s, 1 USAC DC-3 Turbo Express, and 20 Cessna 207s.

A total of 36,281 passenger are transported by the state’s second largest commuter on the year.

Operations continue in 1988 and the company becomes a codesharing partner of Frontier Flying Service. The carrier, which does not release its traffic statistics, encounters enormous financial difficulties. The popular DC-3 Turbo Express is sold to Warren Basler, president of Basler Flight Services in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

The financial slide intensifies in January 1989 when Hermen’s Air, doing business as MarkAir Express, expands into 6 Friendship markets, driving down fares. Losses quickly become such that Schafer’s airline is forced to shut its doors on February 9. All but a few of the nearly 100 employees are laid off.

Unable to resume operations, the company’s dormant certificate is revoked in early 1990. All of the remaining workers, including President Schaefer, are consequently out of work.

FRIGORIFICO REYES (FRI-REYES), LTDA.: Avenida Juan Pablo II, No. 505, El Alto, La Paz, Bolivia; Phone (2) 334450; Year Founded 1968. Fri-Reyes is established at La Paz in 1968 to operate nonscheduled, all-cargo services throughout the country. Becoming the largest of the so-called “meat haulers of La Paz,” the airline’s claim to fame rests primarily upon its transport use of several Boeing B-17s, the last in airline service.

During the early 1970s, the last two of three Flying Fortresses are sold to the U. S. for restoration. In their place, Fri-Reyes receives eight former USAF Convair CV-240s. Four Douglas C-54s (military DC-4s) arrive from the U. S. during the remainder of the decade, followed, in 1980, by receipt of a fifth from Argentina.

A C-54D with three crew and four passengers suffers an engine failure during its takeoff roll from San Borja on January 26, 1977. The loss of power causes the aircraft to run off the left side of the runway and smash into a parked DC-3. Although both aircraft are badly damaged, there are no fatalities.

When Faucett Peruvian Airlines, S. A. becomes an all-jet operation in 1981 , its last two DC-4s and two DC-6s are sold to Fri-Reyes for conversion into freighters.

In 1982, a DC-6 is purchased from the Chilean Air Force.

Having arrived at Palmira from La Paz on June 8, 1983, a chartered VC-54Q (converted to DC-4 civil standard) with three crew and two passengers encounters of bad weather and is diverted to Trinidad, Bolivia; the aircraft crashes during its landing and catches fire, leaving no survivors.

During its initial climb away from Rurrenabaque on March 24, 1984, a C-54S with three crew and two passengers loses engine power; the pilot loses control and the Douglas crashes into a forest. There are no survivors.

Operations continue apace during the remainder of the decade. Aircraft come (including a CV-440 and a Martin 4-0-4) and go (the CV-440 to Panambra, Ltda. in 1985 and the last B-17 in 1986) or are lost.

The undercarriage of a DC-6BF with three crew collapses as the Douglas lands at La Paz on May 8, 1987, causing the aircraft to flip over, break into three pieces, and catch fire. There are no fatalities.

Engine trouble causes the three-man crew of a C-54A to make a belly landing at La Paz on September 9, 1988; although the aircraft must be written off, there are no fatalities. Only a few planes are in inventory as the company completes its thirtieth anniversary year.

During its initial climb away from La Paz on June 20, 1993, a DC-6B freighter with three crew loses its No. 2 engine; when fire breaks out as the prop feathers, a forced landing is made on a grass airstrip 5 nm. from the runway. Again, there are no fatalities.

Flights continue without headline or incident during the remainder of the decade. Two C-46s make up the fleet in 2000.

FRIGORIFICO SANTA RITA, LTDA.: Aeropuerto Internacional, El Alto, La Paz, Bolivia; Phone (2) 011046; Fax (2) 356247; Year Founded 1972. Another of the large La Paz-based “meat haulers,” this all cargo service begins flying in 1972 with a fleet of Douglas DC-3s, Curtiss C-46 Commandos, and a single Douglas DC-6. Operations continue apace largely without incident over the next 20 years.

During the first quarter of 1992, two aircraft are lost in rapid succession. A DC-3 with one crewman aboard is lost after its engine catches fire while the freighter is parked at Carollit Ranch on February 29; the pilot is not killed. On March 2, a C-46T with three crew and two passengers loses power to its No. 1 engine while taking off from El Trompillo, loses height, and strikes the ground with its left wing; no one aboard survives the ensuing crash.

While on initial climb away from Angora, Bolivia, on September 13, 1993, a C-46A with three crew loses its No. 1 engine; while trying to make an emergency landing, it crashes and burns. There are no fatalities. Ad hoc flights continue until mid-decade.

FRISIA LUFTVERKEHR NORDDEICH, GmbH.: Postfache 1160, Flugplatz Norden-Norddeich, Norden, D-26501, Germany; Phone 49 (3193) 32930; Fax 49 (3193) 32200; Http://www. reederei-frisia. de; Year Founded 1969. Ostfriesische Luftdienst, GmbH. forms this subsidiary 1969 to undertake both charter flights and regularly scheduled services between Norddeich and the Frisian Islands towns of Juist and Nordeney. Dr. Carl-Uffert Stegmann is appointed president with Tjado Ihmels as managing director. The initial fleet comprises 3 Pilatus Brit-ten-Norman PBN-2 Islanders, 1 Cessna 206, and 1 Cessna 172. Within five years, Munich and Stuttgart have joined the route system.

In 1989, a fourth PBN-2 is acquired. Upon the retirement of Dr. Stegmann in 1990, Managing Director Ihmels is elevated to the company’s top post. Services continue largely without change during the remainder of the decade and into the new millennium. Late in the 1990s, a German-language homepage is opened on the World Wide Web.

FRONT LINE TOURS: United States (1991-1995). Richard Page and Larry Tighe establish this charter operation at Minneapolis (MSP) in 1991 to provide inclusive tours to retail travel agencies throughout the upper Midwest. As many of these packages include hotel arrangements and tickets to sporting events, the company comes to emphasize service to professional baseball, basketball, and hockey teams. The air transport phase of the business is handled by five Boeing 727-31s leased from Express One International, based in Dallas (DFW).

Flights continue apace during the remainder of the year and into 1992. In the fall, a B-727-223, newly received from Express One International, becomes, for one season, the official team plane of the Minnesota Timberwolves NBA professional basketball team and wears the team logo on its blue tail.

As the company continues to experience success in 1993-1994, Page and Tighe determine to acquire an existing certified airline. This proves to be a wise choice, as Express One is about to experience significant difficulty.

As the result of a FAA probe of its parts and maintenance program, Express One International voluntarily halts service on June 5, 1995, and enters into Chapter XI bankruptcy. Front Page is now required to return its five chartered Boeings. Front Page Tours, meanwhile, has entered into negotiations with Conrad “Connie” Kalitta for the purchase of the newly created MGM Grand Air division of American International Airways (3).

On July 1, majority interest in MGM is sold to Front Page Tours; AIA continues to hold a 20% interest. President Page renames his new unit Champion Airlines and it is provided with 1 DC-8-62 and 1 each Boeing 727-91, B-727-223, and B-727-224A, all leased from AIA, plus a 200-person workforce (a 66.7% increase over what it had been under MGM), that includes most of the former MGM employees.